Inheritance (book)
Inheritance is the last book in the Inheritance Cycle. Originally, there were only supposed to be three books, Eragon, Eldest, and according to Christopher Paolini, the last one would be called Empire. However, while writing the third book, he realized that there would be too many pages in Empire to fit into one book, so he expanded the Inheritance Trilogy into the Inheritance Cycle, adding a fourth book. Also, it is important to note that while writing Brisingr, Paolini wrote about 100 pages into Inheritance. Summary The book opens with the Varden's attack on Belatona. In the midst of the battle, Saphira is nearly killed by a Dauthdaert, Niernen, (meaning the Orchid), a spear from Du Fyrn Skulblaka, created to withstand dragon magic and kill dragons. Eragon and Arya find Lord Bradburn and subdue him, taking control of the city. In the aftermath they are offered an alliance by the werecats which they accept. That night Elain's baby, Hope, is born with a cleft lip, which Eragon sings through the night to heal her. Soon after, Roran is sent to Aroughs to take the city so the Varden doesn't have to fight on two fronts. In the process his friend/magician, Carn, is killed. Roran rejoins the Varden at Dras-Leona where they make plans to attack the city. Jeod finds references to the start of a sewer system that was never completed under the city and Eragon leads a group into the city to open the gates for the Varden. After being discovered by soldiers, one of Blodhgarm's spellcasters, Wyrden, is killed in a trap. Eventually, Eragon and Arya are captured by the priests of Helgrind and are going to be fed to the Ra'zac eggs which the priests has holding. Angela and Solembum save them,through which Angela reveals she is in possession of the sharpest blade in existence, Albitr, and they escape killing most of the priests in the process. Eragon defeats Murtagh and Thorn with the use of the energy stored in the ring Aren and the Varden take control of the city. Later on Murtagh and Thorn attack the Varden camp and take Nasuada prisoner, which has surprisingly little effect. In the absence of Nasuada, Eragon is appointed as the leader of the Varden as they march towards Urû'baen. Just after Eragon is made leader of the Varden, he decides that this is the moment to find the Vault of Souls. However, Eragon, needing to ask Solembum about where exactly he heard this information about the Vault, goes and asks the werecat. Sloembum, at first, refuses to disclose more information about the Vault of Souls, but Eragon convinces him to elaborate. Solembum then tells Eragon that, soon after the Fall of the Riders, the entire werecat race was told that if another Dragon Rider not under Galbatorix's influence or in his service, they should tell this Rider to look under the roots of the Menoa tree for a weapon and inform them of the Vault of Souls. Heeding Solembum's advice, Eragon, Glaedr, and Saphira set out for Vroengard, where they find the Vault of Souls. Descending into the Vault, Eragon and the other two find a massive cache of Eldunarya, along with at least two hundred dragon eggs. The leader of the Eldunarya, Umaroth, once a white dragon bonded with Vrael, then tells Eragon and Saphira of how Oromis and Glaedr were instrumental in saving the dragon eggs and the Eldunarya (they convinced the wild dragons to give up their eggs to keep them safe, and then gave 26 of those eggs to the Riders). Eragon departs from Vroengard with all but a few of the Eldunarí to protect the eggs as the eggs are left in their place for the time being. Upon leaving the Vault, all knowledge of the eggs existence is wiped from the minds of Eragon, Saphira, and all of the Eldunarya accompanying them, so that Galbatorix cannot make use of that information. Eragon leaves for Urû'baen, which is under siege from the Varden. He is accompanied by Blodhgarm, the remaining ten elven spellcasters, Arya and Elva and after a decpetive scheme, they break into Galbatorix's citadel. Once there, he tries to locate Galbatorix and after progressing through a series of traps, (that take Blodhgarm and the ten elves prisoner),they locate Galbatorix in a huge chamber. Galbatorix subdues them and tells them that he has learnt the true name of the Ancient Language and thus has true power over them and can defeat the Varden when he sees fit. Eragon is then forced to fight Murtagh, and after he defeats him, Murtagh reveals he has changed his true name . Murtagh then attacks Galbatorix, using the Name of Names to temporarily paralyze Galbatorix's magic and stripping Galbatorix of almost all of his wards. This allows Eragon to cast a spell using the energy of the Eldunarí to make Galbatorix understand his crimes. As it is a spell with no words, and only a communication rather than an attack spell, Galbatorix is unable to defend himself and is left crippled by it. Although he makes an attempt to invade Eragon's mind, Murtagh overpowers him and Arya kills Shruikan by stabbing him in the eye with Niernen. Galbatorix is then stabbed in the stomach by Eragon. In retaliation, Galbatorix tries to kill Eragon and the rest along with him by unmaking himself (his matter) and becoming pure energy in a huge explosion (in other words, he turns himself into a nuclear bomb, complete with magical radioactive fallout). However, Eragon uses the energy from the Eldunarya and protects himself and the others. The downfall of Galbatorix is mainly due to the assistance of Murtagh and Thorn, who are able to break free of their oaths to Galbatorix on account of their identities changing drastically. During Nasuada's captivity at Urû'baen, Murtagh assisted her to the best of his ability in resisting Galbatorix, because of the love he had fostered for her over the many months since he had met her, and it was this love that largely was responsible for his identity switch. Free for the first time since being bonded together, Murtagh and Thorn decide to fly north on their own to let their hate and rage cool down, and to rethink a great many things. After Galbatorix's demise, Nasuada becomes the Queen of the Empire; whereas Arya, after the death of her mother in the battle at the hands of Galbatorix's general Lord Barst, becomes the Queen of the Elves. She also resumes her role as the ferry for the now rescued green dragon egg, which soon hatches for her, to the surprise of none. She becomes a Rider and names her male dragon Fírnen. With the threat of Galbatorix now removed, Eragon and Saphira are both now able to remember the hidden eggs, and they work together to find a suitable place to house the now numerous Eldunarya (both from Galbatorix's collection, and the Vault of Souls), and which would accommodate the needs of a new order of Riders. During this process Eragon also solves the problem of binding all the races together, by reworking the magic of the land to include both the dwarves and the Urgals in the bond between riders and dragons, meaning that dragons can now hatch for an Urgal or a dwarf. In the end, Eragon reaches the decision that there is no safe place to raise the dragons that would hatch and train the Riders in Alagaësia. So with the approval of all the leaders of the various races, he elects to transport all the Eldunarí and dragon eggs to a new location (in the east) save two; of which one is sent to the dwarves, and one to the Urgals, if neither eggs happen to choose a Rider, they would swap places. Eragon and Arya recognise their true feelings (love) for each other and he offers Arya the chance to accompany him down the river and away from Alagaësia, so she could help him train the new Riders. However, she declines because of her duty as the elves' new queen. With heavy hearts, Eragon and Saphira, together, depart Alagaësia. The book ends with the vision that Eragon had in prior books of two people getting onto a boat (Eragon and Arya) and sailing away while two dragon are flying overhead and a man on the beach (Roran) yells for his loss. At first, Eragon weeps for all that he is leaving behind, but in time, he comes to realize that, in his new adventure to train the next generation of Riders, he would be able to have a chance at life again, raising dragons and Riders. With that in mind, he looks forward to his new life, "a life with dragons and Riders". Sneak peek The paperback edition of Brisingr, released April 13, 2010 to the USA and Canada, includes the fourth chapter, King Cat, from Inheritance. This chapter can be read at Amazon.com's page for the paperback edition, using the "Search Inside," feature, however, users may be limited in the amount of text they are allowed to view at any given time. Cover flap summary "Not so very long ago, Eragon—Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider—was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders." "Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chances." "The Rider and his dragon have come further than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost?" "This is the much-anticipated, astonishing conclusion to the worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle." Gallery Inheritance Sweden (Arvtagaren).jpg|Swedish edition of "Inheritance" References External links * Eragon Italia - Fan site Italy de:Buch 4 - Das Erbe der Macht es:Inheritance (El Legado) fi:Kirja 4 nl:Erfenis pl:Dziedzictwo tom 1 (książka) ru:Эрагон. Наследие Category:Inheritance books Category:Inheritance cycle